Since the events of Sept. 11, 2001, perhaps the most defining moment of recent history, Americans have seen the country go through a variety of social and political changes.

“Since then, we’ve let our fears get the best of us,” said Dr. Rick Frederick, professor of history at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford. “We have traded in our civil liberties to feel safe.”

In his history class, Frederick teaches about what he views as similarities between the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, which increased government power in the name of national securities and included new powers to deport foreigners, and the Patriot Act that was passed by Congress in 2001.

“They share some of the same elements,” he said. “And both stem from close-mindedness and fear.”

Of the changes caused by Sept. 11, Dr. Andrew Dzirkalis, an associate professor emeritus of political science at Pitt-Bradford, agreed that it’s nothing that hasn’t been seen before, but that it is for good measure.

“It didn’t change the course of history,” Dzirkalis said. “What it did was remind us that we are not outside of history.”

Dzirkalis explained his point by stating there have always been countries with idealogues that are against American civil liberties, comparing it with precautions taken against Soviet Russia.

“The fear from Russia justified many of the precautions that the United States took at the time, precautions that are very similar to the precautions taken after Sept. 11,” Dzirkalis said. “We can’t afford to be naive to history.”

Frederick said he believes the very same precautions have caused Americans to categorize all people from Middle Eastern countries as enemies.

“We’ve allowed our fears to make perpetual war with the Middle East the norm,” Frederick said. “Once the towers went down, we made everyone from the Middle East our enemies.”

Dzirkalis, who is Latvian by birth, said he believes Americans’ disconnect from history has made them blind from “very real dangers that exist in the world.”

“When I left Latvia with my family, it was to escape a communist regime,” he said. “You don’t forget how capable we all are of great sin.”

While Frederick shares a different opinion, he added that a positive he has seen since Sept. 11 has been the amount of respect and praise first responders receive. “People in general, liberals, conservatives and everyone else have had more of a tendency to appreciate responders,” he said. “We’ve woken up to realize that these people are heroes. We need people like this.”